London's naked restaurant is closing and moving to Paris

The Bunyadi, the world-famous pop-up restaurant in London where diners can eat in the nude, will move to Paris later in 2016. Chloe Pantazi/Business Insider London's much-hyped naked restaurant is closing a month early and moving to Paris.

Founder Seb Lyall, known for his pop-ups restaurants (the owl cafe and the "Breaking Bad"-inspired cocktail bar to name two), told me today that he's been invited to launch in Paris and said that the London restaurant will close this weekend (30/31 July).

"I was told that since the recession there are some empty spaces in Paris, and we'd love to go over there to open," Lyall told Country & Town House.

"It's really positive and I'm excited to be going to Paris. We'll be taking our team there and finding a venue - there are three possibilities at the moment. People came over from Paris, people in the industry, and said, 'we'd love you to open over here. Here are some options.'"

Lyall said that he plans to open the French Bunyadi as a pop-up restaurant in September and October this year. The menu and drinks will be different, but aesthetic and "Pangea-like" vibe will remain. Liberation will still be the focus - indeed, a major part of French lifestyle. Lyall said he's applied for the necessary licenses and is positive The "French Bunyadi" will go ahead.

The Bunyadi opened in London at the end of May and received largely positive reviews. Diners undress - if they choose to - behind screens, and are given a robe and slippers while they eat vegan or non-vegan dishes on wooden stools, eating with edible cutlery. It's up to customers whether they disrobe. Only recently, The Bunyadi launched a new menu, which Lyall told me was to "test the market and find out what works best."

"We believe people should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colours, no electricity, no gas, no phone and even no clothes if they wish to," Lyall explained at the time.

Today, he told me: "We've built a community and we want to share that with Paris now. It's been brilliant - we've built a lovely following. Everyone who comes is really liberal, educated, and open to new things. We're very niche.

"It's easier for us to close after two months here. We need to start planning for Paris. It's been really hot in London and our current venue isn't suitable for our plans to grow. It's been warm and there's no air conditioning. We've had a fantastic two months and now we need to move on."

Soon after the restaurant was first announced, a waiting list of tens of thousands grew. It's probably worth mentioning, then, that there may well be quite a few unhappy would-be nudist diners who'll miss out. They may have to hop on the ferry to France to experience courgette flowers with cauliflower cous cous.

But Lyall has yet bolder plans for London. He wants to open the city's first naked private members' club. He told me that he's had offers and has "the investment in place" to do so, and will hunt for an appropriate location once the pop-up is completed in Paris.

"I don't want to stop at a restaurant," said Lyall. "I think, with the community we've built, we can go further and open a private members' club. That's my ambition now.

"We'd do food there too - but I want a permanent venture. It would be great to have a naturist place for people in London to go."

The Bunyadi was never simply about eating naked. Rather, it was a lifestyle choice. At the time, Lyall said he plans 'to take diners to a beginning where everything was fresh, free and unadulterated from the trappings of modern life. They will dine under a canopy of candle lights, creatively partitioned with bamboo and wicker, as they recline on wood-hewn furniture.'

Now, Lyall wants to build an entire "brand," and feels a naked members' club is the way forward. The concept is in its early stages, but we could well see - ahem - members swinging freely in a London townhouse very soon. Lyall has managed an owl cafe, a drug-themed cocktail bar in a van, and a naked restaurant, so who knows, it could really happen.